The present invention relates to print heads for thermal ink jet printers and, more particularly, to print head systems and methods of operating thermal ink jet printers.
In the field of thermal ink jet printing, it has become a common practice to provide heater resistors on a common substrate and align these heater resistors with individual ink reservoirs and corresponding ink ejection orifices in an outer nozzle plate. These heater resistors are physically defined and electrically driven by conductive traces which can be photolithographically formed on the surface of a suitable resistor layer material, such as tantalum-aluminum. These heater resistors have been traditionally isolated from the overlying ink reservoirs by dielectric materials such as silicon carbide and silicon nitride. This type of thermal ink jet printhead is described, for example, in the Hewlett Packard Journal, Vol. 36, No. May 5, 1985, incorporated herein by reference.
Consider, for example, FIG. 1 which shows a cross-sectional view of an exemplary ink reservoir and resistor for ejecting ink. Specifically, a substrate 102 such as silicon, supports a number of ink reservoirs 104. Each reservoir is configured to receive ink that is to be ejected. A heater or resistor 106 is disposed within the reservoir, and a passavation layer 107 comprising a dielectric material is formed over the resistor 106. To expel a jet of ink, the heater or resistor is heated rapidly which causes a vapor bubble 108 to form within the ink reservoir 104. This vapor bubble then causes a quantity of ink 110 to be ejected out of the channel and towards a page that is to be printed upon.
One of the problems associated with ink jet printers and, particularly, the resistors that are used as heaters to heat the ink, is that over time, the resistor can begin to work improperly due to defects that are present in the material of the resistor. Improper resistor operation can also be caused by things such as contamination or voids in layers that are either over or under the resistor, and the presence of voids or cavitation damage. Specifically, resistors are typically formed using thin film techniques where a conductive material, such as tantalum aluminum, is deposited over a substrate and etched to form a desired resistor. This layer is a very thin layer. The resistor layer can have material defects in it which, over time and due in large part to the continual heating and cooling of the material, cause the resistor to effectively malfunction, open up or fuse. When the resistor fails to work, ink cannot be ejected from the ink reservoir and, hence, the integrity of the printer in which the resistor resides can be compromised.
Thermal ink jet defect tolerant resistor designs are described. In one embodiment, a thermal ink jet resistor structure comprises a first resistor element and at least one other resistor element. The resistor elements are connected in parallel and have substantially the same resistances. The resistor elements are configured for redundancy such that if one of the resistor elements fails, one or more remaining resistor elements can function to effectuate ink ejection.
In another embodiment, a thermal ink jet printer comprises multiple ink reservoirs configured for holding and ejecting ink toward a print medium. At least one resistor array is disposed within each ink reservoir. Each resistor array comprises multiple, redundant resistor elements that are connected in parallel with one another such that failure of any one resistor element will not render its associated ink reservoir inoperative. A source of voltage pulses is operably associated with the one resistor array and is configured to supply voltage pulses thereto for heating the resistor arrays effective to nucleate the ink within an associated ink reservoir. In one aspect, a resistance sensor is provided and is coupled with the source of voltage pulses. The resistance sensor is configured to sense a change in resistance of the one resistor array. The source of voltage pulses is responsive to a resistance change to modify the voltage pulses that are supplied to the one resistor array.
A method of forming a thermal ink jet resistor structure for use in nucleating ink comprises forming a layer of conductive material over a substrate. The layer of conductive material is patterned and etched effective to form multiple, parallel-connected resistor elements. The resistor elements are configured such that failure of any one resistor element will not render the resistor structure inoperative for nucleating ink.